Historical RenovationKress Building

Jacksonville, Florida 40,000 Square Feet1980

S.H. Kress & Co. was founded by Samuel Kress in 1896. The company built over 250 five-and-dime stores in 29 states between 1896 and 1955. Samuel Kress was an art collector and took pride in creating beautiful buildings.

The Kress Building located at 10 West Adams Street in downtown Jacksonville was one of the finest examples of early commercial architecture in Jacksonville. It was one of the first poured-in-place concrete buildings in the city.

In 1980 the former two-story retail space was converted to a multi-use, three-story office building. This involved remodeling of the interior to create more floor space, and addition of a new floor between the first and second floors.

Farah & Farah Offices 2010

Unique features of the new building interior included a skylight, atrium and glass elevator. The new skylight was installed into the existing roof to allow better lighting and more efficient use of the interior floor space on all three levels.

The glass elevator was one of the first in Jacksonville.

Going green in 1980: Skylights and a central atrium were elements now defined as LEED.